


Afterwards

by Itsjez



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Comfort, Knitting, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-11-17 10:35:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11273703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Itsjez/pseuds/Itsjez
Summary: After a nightmare, Mabel finds comfort from a kindly grandmother.





	Afterwards

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Missy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/gifts).



Mabel Pines was normally the type of girl who burned away sadness and fear with a brilliant smile. It wasn’t that Mabel didn’t know what it was like to be upset or scared, but rather she endeavored to find an upbeat solution to any problem life threw at her. However, when life decided to throw Bill Cipher and the literal end of the world at her, Mabel found that smiles could not always shine away the nightmares.

On the evening before their return to Piedmont, Mabel and Dipper took time to pack, hang out, and in general enjoy their last few hours in Gravity Falls. True to her word, Abuelita and Soos had moved in immediately following Stan and Ford’s announcement. Mabel enjoyed staying up and just relaxing with her family and her pig in front of the TV. When bedtime came, Mabel went, but stayed up whispering well into the night with her twin. Eventually Dipper fell asleep leaving Mabel to cuddle the pink pig she didn’t want to say goodbye to. Her eyes drooped as the hour grew late, and soon she fell into sleep. Usually, Mabel would dream of kittens or rainbows, or another bright eighties inspired place that whisked her away to peace.

Tonight her dreams turned sour.

Mabeland had once been a place of wonder and safety. Now it was overrun with dark roaches and glowing yellow eyes. There was no where she could run and hide without another terror finding her. Unlike before there was no Dipper to show her the truth, no Waddles to escape on. There was just fear, panic, and tears.

She woke to Waddles oinking softly, his pig nose nuzzling at her tear stained face. Patting him, Mabel sat up, using her night sweater to wipe away the remaining wetness. Though her pet moved to her, Mabel shook her head and quietly, so not to wake Dipper, headed out of the room. After everything, she thought her twin had gone through so much more than her, and he deserved a good night’s sleep without her waking him, again. Deep down, Mabel knew Dipper would want her to come to him, and deeper down she knew when they got home they were unlikely to sleep in separate rooms for a while, but right now she just wanted to get out of the attic room.  
Making her way as silently as she could through the renovated shack, Mabel decided to head to the kitchen. Even if she couldn’t sleep that didn’t mean she couldn’t go get a little late night something to eat. With Waddles following her, Mabel decided on just what snacks to get, what show to watch, and, after all, it was a long bus ride to Piedmont so she could sleep tomorrow.

As she reached the lower level, Mabel was surprised to hear muted voices that suggested the TV had been left on. It was probably just Grunkle Stan, he usually fell asleep watching his soaps, but then Mabel realized there was no snoring. Her heart tightened and she scrubbed at her face. Once she was sure no tears remained, Mabel plastered on her brightest smile and skipped into the room.

It wasn’t Grunkle Stan watching late night soaps.

Instead, Mabel found Abuelita relaxing in the chair, a cup of tea in her hand and eyes watching the flickering screen. The older woman turned to her as she entered her wrinkled smile widening. Mabel relaxed some, and then pointed to the kitchen.

“My tummy woke me up. Waddles wanted a snack too.” On cue, Waddles oinked, and the two walked past Abuelita to the silent kitchen. Once there, Mabel took a breath, her smile fading. So the plan had changed slightly, but she could still work with this. It would be okay if she just-

A hand touched her shoulder lightly and Mabel jumped, just barely holding in a scream.

“You sit. I make drinks.” The kindly grandmother shooed Mabel out of the kitchen and to the comfortable chair. Waddles jumped up and snuggled right next to her. Mabel scratched between his cute little pig ears watching the show Abuelita had left on.

It was a soap like the ones Grunkle Stan watched when he thought no one was around. Mabel did have to admit the Black and White Period Piece Old Lady Boring Movie Channel did have some good shows, even if there was no color. Within minutes, she found herself absorbed in the story of a duchess who was also a woman.

A warm cup next to her hand brought Mabel back to reality. Looking down she saw her rainbow mug filled to the brim with what looked like hot chocolate and a heaping ton of marshmallows. Just the way she liked it.

“Thank you,” she whispered, taking the mug with both hands.

Abuelita just smiled. With her own mug the old woman sat softly on the dinosaur head chair. She took a few sips then placed the mug to side. “These are good movies.”

Mabel nodded, sipping her warm cocoa. “I like these.” She looked at Abuelita. “You couldn’t sleep either?”

“Ahh,” Abuelita sighed and leaned back slightly. “It is a new house.” She spoke so plainly Mabel couldn’t help but just tilt her head.

“The shack isn’t so bad. Once you get used to the old man smell.”

Abuelita chuckled at that. “Maybe we will air it out.”

Now Mabel giggled, her cocoa threatening to spill over. It was odd how comforting Soos’ grandmother’s presence was for her but Mabel wasn’t in the mood to dig too deep into the feeling.

They sat in silence for a while, the movie on screen filling up the space. At one point Mabel heard a familiar clinking of needles and glanced over to see what Abuelita was knitting. Right now she couldn’t quite tell, the project new, but as the movie wore on she found herself looking over more often.

Abuelita’s hands moved with skill and within half an hour, the grandmother had produced at least half of a decent sized blanket. When Mabel realized what she was making, she couldn’t pull her gaze away. She was a decent knitter herself, but it still took her at least a few hours to make a single sweater. Realizing she was in the presences of a knitting master, Mabel jumped out of the chair and rushed away. Waddles oinked at her sudden movement, but made no move to follow her.

Where once she had moved quietly Mabel now bolted up to her room in search of her own supplies. Thankful that she had procrastinated on putting away her crafting supplies, Mabel quickly grabbed some needles and yarn. Vaguely she thought Dipper might have woken up but there were much more important things to think about.

Once she was back downstairs, now settled on the dinosaur head Waddles comfortable at her feet and Abuelita on the couch, Mabel began knitting. She had no idea what she was making at first, just enjoying the clicking of her and Abuelita’s needles, the creation of something coming forth. 

The two women spent some time in comfortable silence, each knitting happily away. Every now and then, Abuelita would offer Mabel some advice which she incorporated into her design. It took some time, Mabel pointedly ignoring the itch in her eyes and the droop in her shoulders as she continued her work. Just a few more stitches, she would think to keep herself going.

Several hours later, Mabel woke. She was curled in the chair, a blanket over her. In the fog of awakening it took her a few moments to notice the blanket was rainbow colored with her name in glittery yarn smack in the middle. A squeal rang through the house as Mabel jumped off the chair and ran in search of Abuelita.

Abuelita was in the kitchen a pan of bacon sizzling away in front of her. Mabel rushed up and hugged her, burying her face in the back of the old woman’s dress.

“Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you-” she repeated the words over and over, hugging tighter with each breath. 

A gentle pat on her head brought Mabel out of her repetitive phrases. She looked up, tears in her eyes. Abuelita reached over, hugging Mabel back. 

“You have bad dreams you can always call,” she whispered into Mabel’s ear. With a kiss to Mabel’s forehead, Abuelita pulled back, smiled, and returned to cooking the bacon.

Mabel just paused for a moment taking it all in. Joy filled her, a happiness and safety she hadn’t felt since Bill’s defeat and Grunkle Stan’s return. 

“Yes Ma’am!” Mable punctuated her words with a nod then rushed off to grab her blanket and finish her packing. She may be going back to California, but she couldn’t help feeling like Gravity Falls would never be far away.


End file.
